Heat sink assemblies are well-known. Specifically, heat sink assemblies are used to cool electrical components within a device as such electronics components may operate at a fast rate to fit consumer's needs. In other words, a heat sink assembly is an object that disperses heat to another object to prevent such electrical components from overheating. Thus, the heat sink assembly keeps the electronics operating.
Currently, various heat sink assemblies exist such as liquid cooled, phase-change, and air-cooled. With respect to liquid cooled, liquid cooled heat sink assemblies utilize a pump to move coolant through the system and a radiator to dispel heat into the air as well as other components such as a fan, coolant reservoir, and hose to facilitate operation of the system. Typically, water is used in liquid cooled systems and is pumped through the electronics within the hose. The coolant or water absorbs heat from the electrical components as it passes the electronics components.
With respect to phase-change, phase-change heat sink assemblies use a compressor, vaporizer, radiating element, and pump to condense a refrigerant gas into a liquid which is then turned into a gas to absorb heat from the electrical components as the gas passes through the components. While air-cooled heat sink assemblies usually involve a cooling fan with aerodynamic fins in its design which allows rapid air flow through a system for cooling. The air flow is controlled by how much space is present between each fin. The thermal conductivity of the fins may also affect the ability to cool the electrical components. Additionally, all the assemblies use a plurality of screws, nuts, bolts, and the like to assemble the heat sinks.
However, both water-cooled heat sink assemblies and phase-cooled heat sink assemblies have various disadvantages. For example, water cooled assembly may leak depending on how the system is set up. Thus, water cooled systems are not ideal or efficient for every device. Also, phase-change systems are very complex and may be expensive to implement. Additionally, as stated above, air-cooled assemblies may or may not be efficient or effectively cool a device based on the configuration of the assembly's fins. Furthermore, each assembly may be difficult to assemble based on the number of parts required for the heat sink.
As such, there is a need for an efficient, inexpensive, and less invasive heat sink assembly than current conventional assemblies which is also easy to assemble.